Caught in The Act

Chad Smith Honored for Supporting Little Kids Rock

By Joe Azevedo

Published May 22, 2015

Red Hot Chili Pepper drummer Chad Smith was honored at Facebook Headquarters in Menlo Park, California for his recent charity work with the Little Kids Rock foundation on May 16th. Little Kids Rock is a program founded by Chief Executive Officer David Wish who has been working with Chad since 2002.

Chad originally started working with Little Kids rock in 85 schools in the Bay Area and New York and now they’re in over 1500 schools in 30 cities around the country. That’s 14 years of work and 14 years of support. For David Wish, “That’s why we’re honoring Chad today with our Living The Dream Award.”

We talked with Chad when he had just gotten back from attending the Acoustic for a Cure event on May 15th in San Francisco, California. It was a fundraiser for kids that have cancer and featured guest performances by Sammy Hagar and James Hetfield. He was visibly impressed with that event, mentioning how they raised more money than expected, and was anxious to see the success of the Little Kids Rock event.

When asked about what he enjoys most about working with children and music Chad gave insight to his personal experience growing up in the public school system “If it wasn’t for the music classes and the music programs in my schools that I went to, I certainly wouldn’t have graduated from high school," Chad said. Chad went on to say his interest was not math or english but music and he is ashamed that how music and art programs are often the first to be cut by schools. “I think it’s important that kids be exposed to music and art. So I wanted to do everything to support that.”

More Cowbell

Chad's high-profile drum-off with Will Ferrell that aired in 2014 on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon is another example of his efforts to help the program. According to David Wish, Little Kids Rock was able to donate 287 drum sets to schools across the country thanks to Chad and Will.

Not only does he support Little Kids Rock, but Chad is also engaged nationwide with Michelle Obama’s Turn Around Arts Program. Chad describes The Mary Chapa Literacy and Technology Academy as an underachieving school in a tough part of the city where “no one cared about the school or learning or for the kids to have any inspiration at all.” Chad’s vision was to rekindle that fire and bring inspiration and hope to the students at Mary Chapa. Through his efforts the school received donations from the companies he endorses: Pearl Drums, Sabian Cymbals, Vater Drum Sticks, and Remo Heads. Chad feels the Turn Around Arts Program provides multiple benefits to the community because “parents get involved when they see that their kids are excited about art and music” plus “attendance and graduation rates are up.” Clearly his vision is working. I’m blown away at the success," he says adding, "It [Little Kids Rock] is one of the programs that actually works which is pretty cool to see.”

Caught In The Act: Matt Halpern

By Radim McCue, Photos By Alex Wohleber

Published Jan 14, 2014

Artist: Matt Halpern

Where: Carrboro, NC

Venue: Cat's Cradle

Periphery's tour kicked off this week in North Carolina and we got shots of Matt Halpern in performance and giving a class in a bar. Who knows? It's a trend that could catch on. Matt is on the cover of DRUM!'s February 2015 issue with an interview that takes you inside his playing secrets and survival tips for today's drummers.

Middle East To Cuba: Journeys With Street Drum Corps

By Radim McCue

Published November 12, 2014

During their recent ten-year anniversary, Street Drum Corps got the chance to visit US military installations in the Middle East, Africa, and Cuba and to see a lot of countries around the world. We asked Frank Zummo to send pics of their journey as he and co-founders Adam and Bobby Alt traveled the world. They got to play at several bases, and had a lot of fun, but as Frank says, "The best part of the trip was performing for the troops and their families."

Chilling under the Flag of Bahrain.

Visiting musical groups have been a staple at American military bases for a century.

Caught In The Act: Nashville Drum Show

By Radim McCue, Photographs by Bob Campbell

Published October 23, 2014

Nashville Drum Show impresario George Lawrence, also the publisher of Not So Modern Drummer, was nice enough to offer some photos to us from the show, as we didnt' make it out to Nashville for the event on September 18 and 19, 2014./p>

By all accounts it was a good show, with tons of vintage and custom gear, some interesting clinics and a great vide. For more, and there's plenty of good stuff, check out the Facebook page here.